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College Hosts Discussion on Impact of Trauma on the Bronx Cambodian-American Community

College Hosts Discussion on Impact of Trauma on the Bronx Cambodian-American Community

On Thursday, Feb. 16, Joyce Wong, Khamarin Nhann and Nuwan Jayawickreme will speak on the impact of genocide and migration.

As a result of the executive actions by the Trump administration, the United States’ commitment to protect refugees has been debated across the country. On Thursday, February 16 from 4-6 p.m. in room 5B of the Kelly Commons, Manhattan College will host a panel to discuss the Cambodian-American community’s struggles as refugees during American military action in Southeast Asia in the 1960s and 70s.

The featured speakers are Joyce Wong, LCSW, coordinator of the Indochinese Mental Health Program at Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, N.Y.; Khamarin Nhann, campaign coordinator at Mekong NYC, an organization that aims to improve the quality of life of the Southeast Asian community in New York City by achieving equity through community organizing and healing, promoting arts, culture and language, and improving access to essential social services; and Nuwan Jayawickreme, Ph.D., an assistant professor of psychology at Manhattan College whose research focuses on the psychological consequences of war trauma.

Manhattan College’s departments of Psychology, Government, History, and Sociology, the International and Peace Studies Programs, the Holocaust, Genocide and Interfaith Education Center, and the School of Liberal Arts, in association with the local non-governmental organization, Mekong NYC, are sponsoring the discussion that examines both the consequences of this genocide and migration to the U.S. in the Bronx Cambodian-American community.

For more information about the event, please contact Nuwan Jayawickreme, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychology, at nuwan.jayawickreme@manhattan.edu or Jeff Horn, Ph.D., professor of history, at jeff.horn@manhattan.edu.